M35-39: Brassac Seizes the Lead at Cormet de Roselend and Never Looks Back

• Remy Brassac wins in 19:28:48 (12:58/mi), the fastest in M35-39 by nearly four hours — and backed it up with the fastest men's split on the Cormet de Roselend→La Gittaz segment.
• Fabrice Fauser's late charge: starting 40th among men, Fauser climbed to 14th by the finish with the 4th-fastest men's split on the Les Houches→Finish leg — good for 2nd in M35-39 in 23:14:11.
• Adrien Trouillet, the great mover: entered 52nd among men, dipped as low as 60th, then steadily reeled off places all the way to 23rd — 5th in M35-39 in 25:43:43 with the 23rd-fastest men's split on the second half.
• Positions 8 and 9 separated by 53 seconds; 10 and 11 by just 16 seconds — two tight battles deep in a 118-finisher field after more than 27 hours on course.

Remy Brassac ran the kind of race that defines this 145-kilometer monster from Courmayeur to Chamonix. He spent the early going trading punches near the front among the men — sitting 2nd, slipping briefly to 3rd, then clawing back to 2nd — before making his definitive move. The Cormet de Roselend→La Gittaz segment, one of the course's high and unforgiving stretches, is where Brassac posted the fastest men's split in the field. From that moment on, he held the men's lead all the way to Chamonix, finishing in 19:28:48 at a 12:58/mi average across terrain that climbs above 8,000 feet.

Fabrice Fauser's story is one of the race's best comebacks. Starting deep in the men's field at 40th, he was still 44th at one checkpoint — moving backward — before an extraordinary second half. By Les Houches he had clawed into the teens among men, and his 4th-fastest men's split on the final Les Houches→Finish leg sealed 2nd in M35-39 at 23:14:11. Alexandre Escot was steadier throughout, hovering around 25th among men for much of the race before a strong Hauteluce→Barrage de la Girotte segment (11th-fastest men's split) lifted him to 16th among men and 3rd in M35-39 in 23:41:18.

The mid-pack battles were quietly compelling. Romain Dehaudt (4th, 25:39:24) and Adrien Trouillet (5th, 25:43:43) finished just four minutes and nineteen seconds apart after more than 25 hours of racing, with Trouillet's relentless second-half surge — from 60th among men to 23rd — nearly closing the gap entirely. Further back, Xavier Burdeyron (8th, 27:03:50) and Romain Gronchi (9th, 27:04:43) finished 53 seconds apart, while Svante Midander (10th, 27:38:23) and Vincent Drouart (11th, 27:38:39) were separated by just 16 seconds after a day and a night on the most technical course of UTMB week.